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Seguin's Hat Trick, Bounce Back Effort Leads Plymouth to 7-2 Win Over London

September 26, 2009 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


PLYMOUTH, MI - Tyler Seguin scored his first-ever Ontario Hockey League hat trick to lead the Plymouth Whalers to an impressive 7-2 victory over the London Knights in a game played Saturday night at Compuware Arena.

Plymouth (now 3-1-0-0) broke a 2-2 tie after one period of play with three goals in the second period and two more in the third.

AJ Jenks (second goal in two games), Myles McCauley (second), Garrett Meurs (first OHL goal) and Joe Gaynor (second) all scored for Plymouth, who bounced back in a big way from a lackluster 6-1 loss in Saginaw on Thursday. London (now 2-1-0-0) received goals from Justin Taylor and Jared Knight (each with their first of the year).

The Whalers took the game over in the second period by outworking London.

"Tonight was an unbelievable bounce back effort," said Plymouth associate coach Joe Stefan. "Everyone was disappointed with the way we played in Saginaw. We had a real tough practice Friday and I think the boys got the message. They sure proved it with the way they came out tonight. They played a full sixty minutes.

"Right from the first drop of the puck, we got the puck in deep and we forced and banged their defensemen. And then about halfway through the game, they really didn't want to go back for the puck any more. I think that set the tone for the night."

After Taylor (6:09) and Seguin (8:15) traded first period goals, Knight gave London a 2-1 lead at 14:10 when he jammed a shot from the right goal line past Plymouth goaltender Matt Hackett. That set the stage for Jenks' key goal of the game, a shorthanded effort at 19:16 of the period that knotted the game at 2-2 and seemed to deflect off something in front of London goaltender Michael Hutchinson.

"Joe Gaynor came off the ice at the end of his shift, so I joined the rush down low," Jenks said. "I picked up a puck that their defensemen fumbled and I wanted to get it to the net. Tyler G. Brown was crashing (the net) pretty hard. I had to beat one guy to get the shot through and I think it went off a defenseman's skate. Good things happen when you get pucks on net."

Plymouth took the game over in the second period on a pair of power play goals by Seguin at 0:39 and 15:17 respectively. Seguin's hat trick goal came on a deflection in the slot of Beau Schmitz's low shot from the right point.

"We know London is a physical team and we wanted to match that," said Seguin. "We wanted to crash the net and battle. On the third goal, Beau and I talked ahead of time what we wanted to do. So I crashed the net and tipped his shot and luckily, it went in."

Seguin now has six goals and five assists for 11 points in four games this season.

Gaynor scored at 15:58 of the second period on another deflection to give Plymouth a 5-2 lead after forty minutes. Third period power play goals by McCauley (scramble in from of the London goal at 10:50) and Meurs (partial breakaway, stuffing a backhand past Hutchinson at 19:37) closed the scoring.

Plymouth outshot London, 29-25.

"I think tonight the difference was our competition level," said Stefan. "We had it going one-hundred-and-ten percent. Thursday in Saginaw, we were probably at ten percent. This game proved that our guys really wanted to bounce back. It was a good character effort."

Plymouth hits the road next week, playing in Barrie on Thursday, Sudbury on Friday and Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday. Plymouth's next home game is Sat. Oct. 10 at 7:05pm against Sudbury.

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